MGTH3S 249

forever slipping down over his nose. In a deserted by-
street they Vere met by Sasha; the mother nodded to
Vesovshchikov and turned- back home.

"But Pavel's still in jail .. .and Andrei..." she thought
sadly.

Nikolai met her in a state of great excitement.

"Yegor is in a bad way!" he exclaimed, "In a very
bad way! They have taken him to the hospital. Ludmilla
was here and wants you to come-----"

"To the hospital?"

Nikolai gave his glasses*a nervous little push and helped
the mother put on her jacket.

"Here, take this package with you," he said in a trem-
bling voice as he pressed her fingers in his warm, dry
hand. "Is Vesovshchikov all right?"

"Yes."

*'l shall come to see Yegor."

The mother was worn out, and Nikolai's excitement
gave her a presentiment of disaster.

"He's dying," was the thought that kept throbbing in
her mind.

But she felt relieved when she stepped into the bright
clean little room where Yegor was lying propped up on
a mound of white pillows, laughing hoarsely. She stayed
near the door and listened to what he was saying to the
doctor.

"Doctoring the sick is like passing reforms."

"Do be serious, Yegor!" said the doctor in a worried
tone.

"But I'm a revolutionary and so I hate reforms."

The doctor gently placed Yegor's hand back on the
cover and stood up, thoughtfully stroking his beard while
he felt the puffiness of his patient's face.

The mother knew the doctor—he was one of Nikolai's
closest friends and his name was Ivan Danilovich. She